60 pages 2 hours read

Mario Puzo

The Godfather

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1968

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Essay Topics

1.

Why does Puzo choose to reveal Sonny’s death after the fact, through Amerigo Bonasera’s perspective, and then, in the following chapter, return to the event to tell the entire story? What is the purpose of his strategy here? 

2.

Discuss Don Corleone’s belief in destiny. How is this belief created by his own history, and how does it play out in the way that he runs the Corleone family business?

3.

What is Kay Adams’s role in The Godfather? Why does Puzo choose to have Michael be involved with, and eventually marry, Kay instead of a more traditional Sicilian girl?